Alpaca, a US-based brokerage infrastructure provider, has raised US$150 million in a Series D funding round led by Drive Capital, valuing the company at US$1.15 billion and confirming its status as a unicorn.

Drive Capital co-founder and partner Chris Olsen will join Alpaca’s board as part of the investment.

The company also secured a US$40 million line of credit to support its balance sheet as it expands internationally.

“Our mission is to open financial services to everyone on the planet,”

said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca.

“We are building the global standard for brokerage infrastructure so our partners can bring investing to more people.”

Founded to provide brokerage infrastructure through APIs, Alpaca enables access to stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, crypto and fixed income products.

The company operates a self-clearing custody model. It currently works with more than 300 partners across over 40 countries. Together, these partnerships support millions of brokerage accounts at banks and fintech companies.

Investors participating in the round include Citadel Securities; Opera Tech Ventures, the venture arm of BNP Paribas; MUFG Innovation Partners; Flat Capital; DRW Venture Capital; Kraken; Altered Capital; X&KSK; Bank Muscat; and Endeavor Catalyst.

Returning investors include Portage, Horizons Ventures, Social Leverage, Unbound, Diagram and Derayah Financial.

Revolut CTO Vlad Yatsenko also participated as an angel investor.

Alpaca said the funds will be used to strengthen its global infrastructure, expand its regulatory footprint, develop institutional trading capabilities, and support the integration of traditional and on-chain financial systems.

Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by János Venczák via Unsplash

This article first appeared on Fintech News Switzerland